Ball dispenser for games



Dec.2 3, 1941. j F. w. PREECE 2,267,575

BALL DISPENSER FOR GAMES Filed April 3, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 23, 1941. F. w. PREECE BALL DISPENSER FOR GAMES Filed April 3, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 u 3' N I 0 I 6" q. s" o v o \\\\E, I O 4 Li' N N M q 4. N 9 Q N (3Q 9 2 s \D Q J It 1 x9. particularmfobject of a 1.." re the aha.

Patented Dec. 23, 1941 Putt. Company, Delaware 1 invention relates to ball dispensing machines wherein a predetermined number. of balls is ocated in an enclosure, which balls will be displensed therefrom upon the operation of certain mechanism, preferably coin. actuated, and re: turned thereto after they have served their pur;

pose. W'hileit is to be understood that the numla er andfsiae of ;the balls adapted to be received d: 'dispensedfby the machine ma vary, and

it tthe balls may be. used for any desired pur BALL DISPENSER. FORGAMES' t Fred'W. PreeceQToledogOhio; assignor toTri 1 Toledo, O'hio,,afcorporation of Application April}; 1940;v

9 claims.- 491. 312-49) r 7 po-segthelpref erred embodiment of. my invenv tioh as disclosedgherein. has particular use in conjunctionwithIajputtingg-ame apparatus such yas-disclosed-in' my issued Patent No.Des. 111,910 L under? date of October 25, 1938. i

my invention to. p vide lanenclgosure having ball. receiving means therein adapted to be movedIto a ball dispensing position and. back again .to receiving position; The ,device is adapted to be used in conjunctionwith a-coin operated mechanism and, there- .ore, .-a further, object of the invention is to proyide a novel electrical circuit actuated bya de posited coin tocause'ithe ball receiving means to operate through one complete cycle from ball receiving -to, pdispen sing position and back again to receiying position. s

g-YIttis usually advisable. to maintaina greater number voffinalis on hand. than will actually be used in [the machineand; therefore, a still further. object of theinvention is to provide a means for. preventing entrance of any ballsinto the enthe .ball receiving. means is not in I e x s lishrnenttofi thegiqreeoing and related ends said invention,..ithen, consists of the 1 means here nafter fully des ribed and particular- -1ypointed outin the gclaims; i

h annexed [drawings and following descripet fgrthindetail certain mechanism and e.rnode nf carrying out myinvention; said w g I ngfhoiyever, but one of various ways in which the principle of the invention may ,hdem l ye j a t In said annejgced drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the te ri i view Fig 1 i s a vertical section,through the enc1o ing someot th'e operating parts in elevation, and l showing the ball receiving means in receiving position.

. Fig.2 is fragmentary vertical section similar in dispensing position.

[toli'igQ1 but'fshowingithehall receiving means sure looking toward the right o-f Fig. 1; 1 Fi g e s a-horizontal sectio throu h china, and

Serial No. i r

- 3 i s a' vertical section through the enclo;

. s v. we

Fig.j5.isa segmented; v ew of the" electric circuit and parts of the machine operated thereby.

Infrcarryin'g out invention 1 provide an'en closure-having a bottom I, a front 2, aback 3, sides 4, and 5., and a top 6. The back'S is pro}- vided with. upper and lower openings 1 and} respectively, the'lower. opening 8 provi dingian entrance intothe enclosurefor the balls B and the upper openin providing an exit therefor.

'Ifhe passageway provid dby the lower inclined member} and th uDperrnember It] may lead toanyf desired placewhere the balls arefreceived after they have served their purpose to carry them to the entrancelopening a. At the, outer sideof [the back 5 and adja fi t. the upp rfand lower edges ;of the opening I the outwardly ex tendingmembers' land 12 maybe locatedto aid in directing theballs aftertheyhave been dispensed through the opening 1 ontoaplat form. or otherv dsiredQmeans where theymay awaituse. s M s i Within the enclosure is located 'a trough" l3 havingupwardly extending sides thereon adapt ed. to be normally positioned adjacent the lower opening 8, as shown inEig. 1, and"tilted, away therefrom ,so that, a plurality of balls entering the lower opening will be received by the trough and held therein. Atjsubstantially the center of the trough 13 are securedto thesides thereof the bracket memberswhich .are' proyidedwith downwardly extendingv portions -I 4, horizontal portions l5 and. upwardly extendingfportions L6 Each of the portions 14 issecured tothe upwardly extending sides of the trough" I3 and the verticalfportions l6 .are spaced apart sufficiently .toreceive a link I1 which, at itslowerendlis v pivotally secured to theportions Iii-of the brack} ets by means of the bolt l8.

"A second link I9 is pivotally secured to the upper end of the links. I! iorapurpose which will be more fully'described hereinafter. Extending between the sides ofithe enclosure and inthe upper portion thereoi a. shelf 2!) is. located on which is securely mounted the motor v2| having a shaft22 extending rearwardly there? "from. :The upper-end of thelink I9 is secured .-to and rotatable with the shaft 22 so that one complete revolution of .the shaft, which will carryTthe link It! around. with it, will obviously elevate the trough 13 by means of the link ll to an position so that the balls will naturally roll out 1 through the opening, and to accomplish this re-- 4 suit I have provided cam arms secured to the trough, one at each endthereof. The 'c'amarm 23, adjacent the side 5 of the enclosure, is merely a straight rod which is adapted to come against the side 5 when the trough is in its upper position and prevents its being tilted too far. The cam arm 24, adjacent the side 4 of the enclosure, is bent inwardly at an angle near its upperend as at 25 andinthe back 3ofTtheenclosurea screw ,or pin26 is provided againstwhich the bent portion 25 of the cam arm 24'is adapted to'come as the trough is being elevated. It will be. clear that if the trough moves upwardly and the pin strikes the bent portion of the cam rod, that. end of the trough will tend to move upwar'dlyinto the position shown in Fig. 2 so that whenitcomes into alinementwith the. upper opening I itwill betilted sufficiently so that the balls will roll out freely. In order to aid in guiding the trough as it nears its normal ball receiving position, additional cam guiding means are provided in the form of blocks 2'! which may be located at either or both sidesof the enclosure.. The rear side of each block 21 is'provided atits upper end with a curved portion 28 so that if theltrough'tends to be out of alinement with the lower opening 8 as it is being moved downwardly, the camming action of the edges of the blocks 21 will'force the trough rearwardly to proper position, i

I have provided novel means housed within the enclosure so that, upon the depositing of a coin in the slot provided therefor, only one complete revolution of the shaft 22 will take place which will raise the trough to the upper opening 1,. dispense the balls, and return the trough to its lower normal ball receiving position where it will remain at rest to receivethe balls after they have servedtheir purpose and will not again be moved until another. coin hasbeen deposited.

In the detailed description of this mechanism itlwillbe noted that a'coin slot 29 is provided byjthe enclosing guideways 29a which extends downwardly from the top 6 and willcarry a coin 30' depositedtherein to a lower position shown in' Fig. '3. Asolenoid 3| ispositioned adjacent the lower end of the coin slot which has an arm 32 extending outwardly therefrom andlocated immediately below the lower end of the coin slot '29fso that after'a coin has been carried downwardly in the slot it willfrest on the arm 32 in its lower position. In one, side of the enclosure 23a whichdefines thecoirrslot and near the bottom thereof is, located the arcuate slot 33 which receives therein the lower bent' end of the spring'arm'34. Arm 34 is pivoted near its upper end by passing through an opening in the lug 35pm aj portionofthe coin slot enclosure. The 'upper end of thearm 34, designated at 36, normally acts to' spread apart the switch contact members '31. One lineof the switch 31 is connec ted to the motor 2| and the other to the ordinary llb-volt lineso that upon the switch being closed, the motor will start a rotation of the shaft 22. Within the motor housing is located suitable gearing so that the shaft 22 will rotate at a comparatively low speed. The spring arm 34 will normally be in a position where its lower end is at the upper end of the slot 33 so that its upper end 36 acts to maintain the contacts 3! open, but a coin deposited in the slot 29, upon reaching the lower end thereof, will force the spring arm 34into the position shown in Fig. 3 thereby permitting the contacts 31 to close and initially starting the motor 2 I.

Also aifixed to the shaft 22 is a cam 38 which is provided at its periphery with a high portion 39, a low portion 40 and the intermediate portion 4| which. constitutes the greater part of the periphery. Mounted adjacent the cam 38 is a spring arm 42 having its upper end thereof lying against the cam 38 and adapted to follow the contour thereof as it is being rotated. Two switches are mounted adjacent the spring arm 42... The first of these has one contact, point on the'arm 42 and the other contact point on the spring. arm 43. The second switch includes the two spring arms 44 and 45, the first of these being spaced from the arm 42 by the block 46. A con tact point is located on each of the arms 44 and 45. The arm 42 (Fig. 5)'is connected to a -volt line and its adjacent arm 43 is connected to the motor so that a closing of the switch by contacting the points on these arms will maintain the operation of the motor for one revolution of the shaft 22 even afterthe switch 31 has been opened. The solenoid 3| has a connection with a 6-volt line and to the switch arm 45, while the other switch arm.46jis also connected to the 6- volt line so that a closing of the contact points on the arms 44 and 45 will energize the solenoid, remove the arm 32 from thepath of the coin 30 and permit the coinv to drop downwardly to the bottom of the main enclosure. This removal of the coin permits the spring arm 34 to return to its normal position opening the switch 31, but which has no effect on the motor at thisstage since the switch contacts on thearms 42and 43 have been closed. l 1 When the end of the arm 42 is resting on the highest portion 39 of the cam 38 all of the contact points on the arms 42, 43', 44 and 45 will be separated. When the end of the arm 42 rests on the intermediate portion 4l'of the cam 38 the contact points on the arms 42 and 43 will be closed to maintain operation of the motor,,and when the end of the arm 42 rests on the lowest portion 40 of the cam the contact points on the arms 44 and 45 will also be closed to energize the solenoid 3|. I

The operation of the machine is as follows:' The device initially, and the mechanism there of, will be in its normal position as shown in Fig. 1 withthetrough l3 inits lower position filled with balls B. The spring arm 34 will have its lower end at the upper end of the arcuate slot 33 maintaining the switch 31 open, and the end of the spring arm 42 will beat rest on the highest portion of the arm 42 on the cam 38. -Whena coin 34 is dropped into the slot 29 and reaches the lowermost portion thereof where it rests-on the arm 32 of the solenoid, it forces the spring arm 34 to the position shown in Fig. 3 where the switch 37 is permitted to close starting the motor 2|. As the shaft 22 and the cam 38 thereon rotate in the direction shown by the arrows inthe various figures of the drawings, the link l9 through the link I! will begin .to elevate the momentarily in the lower portion 40 of said cam which closes the switch formed by the arms 44 and 45 thus energizing the solenoid 3| to withdraw the arm 32 thereof permitting the coin 30 to drop to the bottom of the main enclosure. As

soon as the coin 30 has left its position against the arm 34, said arm will resume its normal position opening the switch 31 at which time the arm 32 will be moved outwardly to its normal position by reason of the fact that the end of the arm 42 will have reached the larger section of the intermediate portion 4| on the cam 38. In this position of the arm '42 the switch formed by this arm and its adjacent arm 43 will remain closed until the shaft 22 has completed one revolution at which time the end of the arm: 42 will again rest on the highest portion of the cam, opening the switch formed by the arms 42 and 43 to stop the motor. During this operation of the circuit, the trough l3 will have been moved upwardly to its position shown in Fig. 2, will remain there long enough to dispense the balls through the opening 1 and be returned to its normal position of Fig. 1.

Usually a greater number of balls is kept on hand than will fill the trough and for this reason 7 it is necessary to provide some means to prevent any of these extra balls from entering the enclosure-through the opening 8 during the absence of the trough l3 therefrom. The particular means which I have devised to effect this purpose constitutes a spring arm 41 located beneath the trough l3 and extending longitudinally thereof. One end of the arm 41 is secured to the bottom I while the other end has a downturned flange 48thereon and extends partially into the opening 8. The normal tendency of this arm is to spring upwardly to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 but is held down in its full line position by the force of the trough l3. As the trough is moved upwardly, the spring arm 41 also will be raised to the dotted line position of Fig. 1 forcing the extra balls away from the trough where it remains in this position to prevent the entrance of the balls until the trough is returned to its lower position where it forces the spring arm 41 downwardly.

While any desired means may be used to gain I I access to the enclosure either to remove coins collected therein'or for repairs of the mechanism, I have provided the enclosure with a removable front 2 which has a rabbeted portion along its upper edge to fit into a groove in the top section. A plurality of cleats 49 are located along the bottom and sides of the enclosure against which the front 2 may abut when it is in closed position. At the lower edge of the front I provide a space 5|] wherein a locking mechanism may be located to lock the enclosure against unauthorized entrance.

1. A ball dispensing machine comprising, a

trough to receive a plurality of balls therein and normally in ball receiving position, 'a link pivotally connected thereto, a rotatable shaft, a second link having one end secured to said shaft and the other end pivotally connected to said first link, whereby one revolution of said shaft will 7 move said trough to ball dispensing position and back to ball receiving position, and means to rotate said shaft one complete revolution.

2. A ball dispensing machine comprising, an enclosure having a front, back and sides, upper and loweropenings in one of said sides, a trough within said enclosure to receive a, plurality of balls and normally positioned adjacent the lower opening and tilted away therefrom, means to move said trough upwardly to the upper opening and back to the lower opening, and means to tilt said trough toward said upper opening in its upper position to thereby dispense the balls.

3. The combination of elements defined in claim 2, said means to move the trough including 4. The combination of elements defined in claim 2, said means to tilt the trough including a pin extending inwardly from the back of said enclosure, and a cam rod extending upwardly from the rear of said trough bent at an angle near its upper end, whereby as the trough is moved upwardly the bent portion of said rod will contact said pin and tilt the trough.

5. A ball dispensing machine comprising, a trough to receive and dispense balls, a rotatable shaft, means connecting said shaft with said trough so that one revolution of the shaft will move the trough to dispensing position and back to receiving position, a cam on said shaft, a spring arm having one end thereof adapted to follow the contour of said shaft, a switch connected with said arm adapted to be closed and opened when the end of said arm reaches certain predetermined points on said cam, the switch when closed causing a rotation of said shaft, and means to initially start rotation of said shaft.

6. The combination of elements defined in claim 5, wherein said last named means includes a normally open switch so arranged in the circuit that a manual closing thereof will start a rotation of the shaft and will remain closed until the first named switch is closed by, rotation of said cam, and means to thereafter open the second named switch.

'7. The combination of elements defined in named switch after the first switch has been closed by rotation of said cam.

8. The combination of elements defined in claim 5, said last named means including a normally open switch, means to open said last named switch after the first switch has been closed by rotation of said cam including a solenoid having an arm extending therefrom, and means to energize said solenoid.

4 azezm 'v -9.1A ball dispensing machine comprising an balls through said otheropening, anda n-spring enclosure having'a front, back and sides, two arm movableinrthe path of incomingba11s=to openings in-said enclosure, ball receiving means prevent entrance thereof into said enclosure having one end thereof adjacent one of said when said receiving means is not in receiving p0- openings to receive balls as they enter said open- 6 sition.

ing, means to move said receiving means to the i 4 FRED W. PREECE. other-of said openings, means to dispense said 

